Linen provides a cheap option for a canvas, while still retaining excellent quality. Linen canvases are made up of strands of plastic fibers which create an excellent vibrant color in the print you are transferring because the material doesn't absorb the print. Linen also offers excellent lifespan if you avoid scratches due to the hardy nature of the stretched fibers. Linen is relatively inexpensive. The downside is that because the print will not penetrate the plastic fibers it effectively sits on the surface and can be easily scratched or cracked.
Cotton is generally the choice of artists or photographers who want to select the most stylish canvas for their print. Cotton canvases absorb the ink from the print which protects the work from scratches or other superficial damage, and gives the work a real deep, almost museum-like quality. A print on a cotton canvas can retain its deep quality, thus its value, for much longer than a linen canvas. The negative aspect of cotton canvases is the price; you can expect to pay much more for a cotton canvas print than you would for a similar linen print.
The most affordable type of canvas for printing is a blended canvas. This is created by blending around 35 percent cotton with 65 percent synthetic material. A blended canvas creates the illusion of looking like a quality canvas, but it will provide none of the depth and protection of a cotton canvas, and none of the vibrancy of color of a polyester canvas. You should only consider a blended canvas if a polyester or cotton canvas is absolutely out of your price range.
Deep profile cotton canvas is considered the best possible canvas for printing. It has all the characteristics of regular cotton canvases combined with the most longevity of any canvas material on the market, while providing a deep, professional hue to the print.